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As NACWA members gear up for the Association’s Developments in Clean Water Law Seminar 2012, November 14-16, in Seattle, Washington, this Member Update provides committee summaries from the Association’s 2012 Summer Conference & 42nd Annual Meeting in July.  The committee discussions that took place this summer will undoubtedly serve as the building blocks for the Law Seminar’s strategic discussions.  NACWA’s committee structure forms the backbone of its advocacy efforts and the Association strongly encourages member agency participation.  Committee handouts and presentations from the Summer Conference are available on NACWA’s 2012 Summer Conference website.  A current list of the committee leadership and members is available on NACWA’s website.  To join NACWA committees, please contact Kelly Brocato at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The registration information for the Developments in Clean Water Law Seminar will be available on NACWA’s Conferences and Professional Development webpage within the next week.  The hotel reservation deadline is October 23, 2012 and you can reserve your hotel room today by contacting the Westin Seattle at 206/728-1000 to guarantee the special conference rate of $165 single/double.  Be sure to mention that you are a NACWA attendee.  You may also make your reservation online through Westin.

Biosolids Management Committee

Chair, Dave Taylor, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wis.
The Biosolids Management Committee meeting began with a case study presentation on the Philadelphia Water Department’s biosolids management program.  Debra McCarty, Deputy Commissioner, outlined the drivers, including cost, which led the City to pursue a design, build, and operate agreement with a private biosolids management company.  Also a focus was the Association’s ongoing legal challenge to EPA’s air emission standards for sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs) and the Committee NACWA’s main legal arguments in that case.  While NACWA’s related challenge to EPA’s non-hazardous secondary materials rulemaking is currently on hold while EPA reconsiders portions of that rule, the Committee was updated on several related developments concerning non-waste petitions for biosolids (e.g., pellets) that are burned for energy recovery and the regulatory status of contained gases (e.g., biogas).

Dave Taylor, Committee Chair and Director of Special Projects for the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, presented data on the District’s efforts to reduce dental amalgam mercury and its benefits for biosolids.  The Committee was also updated on the latest developments from Kern County, California, where NACWA members, with the support of the Association, have been engaged in a long-term dispute over land application, and also on the activities of the National Biosolids Partnership by Cathy Gerali, District Manager for the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District in Denver, Colorado and Chair of the NBP Steering Committee.

Climate & Energy Committee

Chair, Antonio Quintanilla, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Ill.
Vice-Chair, Peter Ruffier, Clean Water Services, Ore.
The Climate and Energy Committee opened with a presentation by Paul Kohl of the Philadelphia Water Department on a new program in Philadelphia to use domestic food waste to enhance heat and electricity production at a biogas co-generation facility currently under construction.  A life cycle assessment showed that using the sewer system for disposal of food wastes was the most energy-efficient method available for the City.  The “Clean Kitchen, Green Community” program that was launched in Philadelphia this year aims to install food waste disposers in select neighborhoods and study how the disposers can help the City reach its sustainability goals.  The presentation generated significant discussion among Committee members, who were especially interested in the potential issues of fats, oils, and greases being disposed of down the drain and clogging of lateral lines.

A presentation was then given by Bruce Lung of the Alliance to Save Energy about the energy efficiency measures undertaken at the Bucks County, Pennsylvania wastewater utility with the assistance of the Alliance’s Watergy program.  The energy efficiency measures have saved Bucks County $34,000 per year to date, with over $300,000 per year more possible with additional work that may be conducted in the future.  The Committee was then updated on NACWA’s advocacy work related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  A lawsuit was recently filed against EPA, seeking an end to the deferral of biogenic GHG  from Clean Air Act regulations.  NACWA filed an amicus curiae brief in the case, supporting EPA’s deferral and explaining the implications of biogenic GHG regulation for wastewater utilities.  NACWA also submitted comments on the most recent EPA GHG Inventory and will be examining the proposed International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) protocol for GHG emission calculations.

Facility & Collection System Committee

Co-Chair, Ben Horenstein, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Calif.
Co-Chair, Dax Blake, City of Columbus Department of Public Utilities, Ohio
The Facility and Collection System Committee meeting began with a presentation by Sangamithra Iyer and Angela Licata, from the New York Department of Environmental Protection, on an affordability analysis of New York City water and sewer rates.  The analysis demonstrated how the two percent median household income affordability guidelines for combined sewer overflow (CSO) control do not take into account the income disparity in New York City, and in discussion after the presentation, Committee members described the affordability issues their municipalities are facing.  This is an issue that will be addressed by NACWA’s Wet Weather Task Force, which is looking at possible legislative action that could address affordability and issues related to control of wet weather flows.

Jeff Theerman of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District then provided a presentation on his utility’s consent decree that addresses both CSO and sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) control, with a focus on the cost of the consent decree and additional costs that will arise for other system improvements in the future.  Theerman also showed how the cost issues being faced in St. Louis are being addressed through NACWA’s advocacy efforts with the Money Matters – Smarter Investment to Advance Clean Water campaign and the work on legislation by the Wet Weather Task Force.  Updates were then provided on EPA’s final Integrated Planning Framework, which was discussed in more detail during the Regulatory Policy Committee meeting, and Wisconsin’s SSO rule, as well as the work being done by NACWA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and the American Public Works Association (APWA) on the problems caused by products, such as “flushable” wipes, that do not readily disperse in the sewer system.  NACWA, WEF, and APWA are working together to try to get more cooperation with product manufacturing to improve product testing and labeling and to educate consumers about what should and should not be flushed.

Legal Affairs Committee

Chair, Lisa Hollander, Sanitation District No. 1, Ky.
Vice Chair, Hilary Meltzer, NYC Department of Law, N.Y.
The Legal Affairs Committee focused discussion on the recent innovative agreements that cities such as Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Seattle have reached with EPA regarding enforcement and consent decree issues, and an examination of what these developments may signal from a legal perspective for the larger municipal clean water community.  The committee’s conversation was enhanced by a presentation from host city Philadelphia on their “Partnership Agreement” with EPA, signed earlier this year in lieu of a federal consent decree.  A representative from the city’s legal department outlined the process Philadelphia went through to reach agreement with EPA, and also highlighted what lessons there might be for other communities in the Philadelphia experience.  This was followed by a brief update on Atlanta’s recent consent decree modification to extend its completion deadline, as well as Seattle’s proposed consent decree containing very positive integrated planning language.   Committee members then engaged in a robust discussion about the legal implications – particular from an implementation standpoint – of EPA’s final integrated planning framework document, and how clean water utilities can use the framework to further advance the existing flexibility that seems to be emerging in EPA’s enforcement approach.  Other topics addressed during the committee meeting included an update of ongoing NACWA litigation matters, with a focus on two recent nutrient lawsuits addressing the Mississippi River Basin and possible changes to EPA’s secondary treatment regulations in which NACWA is closely involved.

Legislative Policy Committee

Chair, Karen Pallansch, Alexandria Sanitation Authority, Va.
NACWA’s Legislative Policy Committee explored EPA’s Integrated Planning initiative and the Association’s efforts in working with interested Members of Congress to see if money could become available to communities to develop integrated plans as part of a pilot initiative.  The Committee also received a report on NACWA’s efforts in leading a coalition of interested stakeholders to see improvements to the Farm Bill that address nutrient management on farms.  Specifically the committee received a report out on language in the Senate bill providing agricultural producers stable funding over five years for nutrient management activities on the farm as part of a larger program that could provide wastewater treatment utilities an opportunity to work with farmers upstream on reducing nutrients in local watersheds.   In addition, the Committee learned about NACWA’s Wet Weather Task Force tasked with developing a package of legislative fixes to the Clean Water Act to address wet weather-specific problems such as peak wet weather facilities and water quality criteria during wet weather events.   Finally, the Committee was updated on continuing discussions in Congress on new approaches to dealing with financing infrastructure investments related to water and wastewater services.

Regulatory Policy Committee

Chair, Adel Hagekhalil, City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, Calif.
Adel Hagekhalil, Acting Chair of the Regulatory Policy Committee, began the meeting by recognizing several outgoing and new committee leaders.  The Committee focused its discussions on EPA’s new integrated municipal planning initiative.  With the release of the final framework from EPA, the Committee discussed next steps to ensure communities interested in utilizing the framework can do so and heard feedback from NACWA members who are currently exploring use of the framework or are actively working to develop integrated plans.  While most agreed that communities with significant mandates, including work to address combined sewer overflows, could readily benefit from use of the framework, communities that are not facing significant mandates at this point expressed concern that proceeding with an integrated planning approach may provide less flexibility than they have currently.  NACWA is exploring the potential of regional workshops to provide for more in-depth discussion on how utilities can put the framework to use for their communities.

NACWA staff highlighted the Association’s new work related to the Water Resources Utility of the Future which will help guide the Association’s advocacy efforts to explore incentives for and remove barriers to utilities interested in initiatives ranging from water reuse and resource recovery to energy efficiency, recovery and production.  Efforts in the regulatory arena will be critical to the success of this new work.

Recognizing that NACWA’s advocacy issues are not divided neatly along regulatory and legislative lines, the NACWA Board of Directors voted July 15, 2012 to combine NACWA’s Regulatory Policy and Legislative Policy Committees into a single policy committee chaired by a member of the Board of Directors, with two vice chairs – one focusing on regulatory issues and the other on legislative issues.  This new policy committee will meet for the first time during NACWA’s 2013 Winter Conference, February 3-6, in Miami, Florida.

Stormwater Management Committee

Chair, Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Ohio
Vice Chair, Jill Piatt Kemper, City of Aurora Water Department, Colo.
The Stormwater Management Committee meeting kicked off with an update on recent NACWA advocacy efforts involving stormwater fee payment issues, including the Association’s significant federal court legal victory clarifying the responsibility of federal government facilities to pay past due stormwater fees.  Committee members were briefed on the legal ruling’s implications and how utilities seeking to collected unpaid bills can use the court decision to their advantage.

EPA regulatory actions impacting municipal stormwater management, including the Agency’s recent announcement of a new schedule for development of a national post-construction stormwater rule, were also examined.  The schedule calls for a draft rule to be released in June 2013 and a final rule to be promulgated in December 2014.  Other regulatory issues reviewed by the committee included current developments in stormwater permitting and an update on how a number of communities are dealing with “flow based” stormwater total maximum daily loads (TMDLs).  Committee members then heard a very informative presentation from the Philadelphia Water Department on how the city changed many of its local stormwater ordinances and codes to require more green infrastructure and low impact development.  The presentation lead to a larger discussion about how utilities can pursue similar ordinance modifications to encourage more innovative stormwater and wet weather management approaches.

Utility Management Committee

Chair, Tom Sigmund, Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, Wis.
NACWA’s Utility Management Committee continued its ongoing dialogue on sustainable utility management with a featured presentation from Terry Brueck, President and CEO of EMA, Inc., on a recent project entitled “Forecasting the Future”, in which 25 water/wastewater leaders from utilities in the U.S. and abroad provided input, including the development of a “must do” list of the seven strategic imperatives for utilities.  The Committee also discussed two hot utility management topics: utility rebranding and sustainable rates.  On rebranding, several utility managers who have recently gone through a utility re-naming process provided valuable lessons learned, key details not to forget, and the positive impacts they have seen post-change.  Sustainable rates have been a long-standing discussion topic for the Committee and several utilities discussed rate studies they currently have underway.  The Committee will be tracking a new Environmental Finance Advisory Board initiative on sustainable rates and a related Water Research Foundation study looking at sustainable utility business models.  While utilities look toward greater reliance on a fixed rate component, some environmental groups are pushing in the other direction in an attempt to promote greater water conservation.

The Committee meeting featured the release of NACWA’s 2011 Financial Survey and Highlights Report.  The triennial survey provides detailed information on utility management practices, financing, staffing, and more.  Committee members received a hardcopy of the Highlights document, which will be mailed to each NACWA representative in the coming weeks.  The Committee was also updated on the final 2011 NACWA Index and the decision to convert the CleanWater Central database into a NACWA-only survey tool.

Water Quality Committee

Chair, Barbara Biggs, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, Colo.
Vice Chair, James Pletl, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Va.
The Water Quality Committee began with an overview on nutrient issues and a presentation on nutrient challenges in the Delaware River basin.  Jason Cruz, Aquatic Biologist with the Philadelphia Water Department, outlined some of the unique aspects of the basin and the ongoing work to determine the best approach for addressing nutrient-related impacts.  On the federal level, the Committee was updated on U.S. EPA’s continued efforts to ensure that the states develop numeric criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus.  While EPA has been increasingly open to a biological confirmation component in addition to numeric values for nitrogen and phosphorus, recent developments, including two legal challenges and several draft permits in Region 1 with nutrient limits based on narrative criteria, have added further fuel to the debate on how best to address nutrients.

The Committee was updated on the status of EPA’s revised ammonia criteria – now expected no earlier than this fall and will be accompanied by guidance on options for implementing the new, more stringent criteria – and EPA’s revised recreational water quality criteria – due in final form by October 15, EPA is reviewing all of the data it has to determine if it can further refine the numbers it proposed in December 2011.  EPA’s recently released whole effluent toxicity calculator appears to inconsistently predict point estimate values, but additional testing and evaluation will be done before NACWA determines how to raise its concerns with EPA.  NACWA’s new water quality trading working group has been reviewing EPA’s trading policy and announced that it would submit comments on the policy by the end of July.